MCA #3, Monday Morning

[hatesmoststuff]

All things considered, that had been a pretty fun weekendOkay, so sans gremlin bite, it was unlikely that April would have made those same choices: bondage kind of seemed like a lot of work as a precursor to sex, and if she was going to hook up with someone, she'd rather just skip the middle step and get right to the good part. But it had still

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[apocalipped]

Jono's portal had been a bit delayed. Which was probably for the best. The more he thought about how much fresh Hell he was about to step into back in Kaeleer, the less it seemed like a good idea to bring Joni along with him, even for something like Karla's procession into Sidra, before any of the actual fighting could start.

And that's why, with no warning whatsoever, because Jono was a great friend like that, he was knocking on April's door to call in a favour.

It was possible that there were a few pet supplies and a tank of tree frogs floating just behind him. Why?

[hatesmoststuff]

Because... floating pet supplies. Duh.

April and her pitbull exchanged similar looks of puzzlement at the fact that they had a visitor. "Cliff, go get the door," she instructed him.

Cliff just looked at her.

Then April realized that if last night had been anything like most nights, she'd probably forgotten to lock her door again. Which meant -- "It's open!" she yelled. "Unless you're annoying."

[apocalipped]

"I'm only sometimes annoying, I'm fairly certain," Jono yelled back as he opened the door and stepped into the apartment. "Actually, I suppose depending on how much you resent being asked favours randomly and first thing in the morning, this visit might be annoying."

Perhaps. Did you like frogs, April?

[hatesmoststuff]

"Can I do your favors sitting down?"

That ws the important thing here.

[apocalipped]

"Unless you have Cliff trained to put crickets into a frog tank, probably not," Jono shared, finding his way into the living room, pulling Joni from his pocket and depositing her on top of April like the ever-so-caring individual that he was. "Or to scoop litter, for that matter."

[hatesmoststuff]

Okay, all of April's attention was going to the kitty now: she promptly started petting Joni and didn't look up again until the cat was purring. "Hey, there," she said to Joni in an usually affectionate voice. "Whatcha doing? Aww, you like that, huh?"

Ahem. Back to Jono now.

April cleared her throat. "Where're you going?"

[apocalipped]

"War," Jono replied with a shrug of his shoulders as though it was the simplest answer in the world. In a way, it was. "I'll be back to the island now and again to... essentially restock my ammunition, I suppose... But even a couple of days a week in Fandom time isn't near often enough time to take care of Joni, and I can hardly take her with me."

It sounded kind of ridiculous when put like that. Fighting a war, but taking weekends off, so to speak. But his collar was a safeguard that he couldn't do without, and he'd be certain, when re-charging, to leave his troops in capable hands on those days that he was on the island.

[hatesmoststuff]

"Dude." April was staring a little, yes. "War? Like with guns and stuff?" She paused in her petting of Jono, holding the cat still in her lap. "You gonna be okay?"

[apocalipped]

"No guns," Jono replied, looking... actually a little bothered by that. Guns, he could deal with. It wasn't as though he'd never been shot before. "Powers, more like. I can't make any promises, exactly, but I've been at war in some capacity or other for near as long back as I can remember. I've never been able to make that promise, luv. This won't be any different, except that it happens to threaten to take a little more of my time to deal with."

He was sure she could remember Christmas, and the holes he'd had in him where holes generally didn't belong. That was war, too, in its own way.

[hatesmoststuff]

"That sounds sucky." Ah, understatement. April's eyes looked concerned, but her tone, as usual, gave nothing away.

"Need to borrow a whip?"

[apocalipped]

Please, pardon Jono. He had no idea how badly he needed that laugh until April went and said that. It wasn't much of one, granted, but she did get a chuckle out of him all the same.

"Actually, I've got my own," he informed her. "And several floggers, and... Lord, you don't want to know how much crap I brought home from Dite's the other night. I've got no idea what to do with it all."

... Besides the obvious.

[hatesmoststuff]

"Have kinky sex," April suggested flatly. "Or donate them."

She'd accept donations, actually. Really. She would.

[apocalipped]

"Donate my newly acquired toys," Jono replied, raising an eyebrow. "I might let you pick something to keep for yourself, in exchange for watching Joni and the frogs until I get back from Kaeleer, perhaps."

Because paying a purely platonic friend in kink gear wasn't weird at all, right?

[hatesmoststuff]

April snorted - not at the offer itself, because she appreciated it, but at the peculiar wording. "Wow, thanks, Santa S&M," she drawled. "How collossally generous of you. Golly."

[apocalipped]

"Well, better I let you pick than choose something myself, I'm certain. There are a good many items sitting in my closet at home that I'm certain you'd have difficulty putting to use on yourself. Unless you could find a bloke willing to wear them, I suppose..."

Jono, really now.

"How about I let you frolic and choose a few things, then? Those bloody things weren't cheap by any means, and I'll be providing all of the pet supplies, and paying vet bills and the like if they come up..."

And, really, he wasn't planning on making use of any of it any time soon.

[hatesmoststuff]

"Pass on the frolicking," April said. Because a.) she did not frolic, and b.) accepting that offer turned out to be too weird, even though she sort of wanted to. "I don't need your used dude leather."

Seriously, who just up and traded sex stuff with their friends? April didn't even like talking about sex with people she wasn't, you know, doing it with.

"What should I know for Joni and these guys?"